


Be Spectacular

by Digidestined_Dude_15



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Not Allurance, Psyche!, References to Depression, Season 6 Spoilers, Set After Season 6, Soulmates, Tears, Understanding, allurance, best friend - Freeform, crying lance, some funny moments, wet-willies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 14:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15196286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Digidestined_Dude_15/pseuds/Digidestined_Dude_15
Summary: A recovered video feed from the Castle of Lions shows Lance the true extent of Lotor's betrayal, and how severely  it affected Allura. He had no clue the damage that Lotor had done to Allura in his wake until now.Season 6 Spoiler's ahead!!!!





	Be Spectacular

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna make this very clear now! THIS IS NOT AN ALLURANCE FIC!!!!
> 
> What happened in Season 6 was clearly very traumatic for Allura. They kiss, they have feelings for each other, and then she discovers that he enslaved the remains of her race and has sucked the quintessence from thousands of them for centuries? How exactly do you deal with that?
> 
> You get a best friend in Lance! That's how!!

“Pidge, what are you doing?”

 

Lance’s question was a valid one. The group of paladins (and friends) had met up with some others from the Voltron Coalition in a solar system that was far from any galra troops. They had repurposed an old galran base into a supply base for the Coallition.

 

After Shiro’s miraculous rebirth, the team had decided that returning home to Earth for the plans to rebuild the Castle of Lions would be in everyone’s best interest. Allura and Coran wanted to experience Earth culture, and it would allow the others to visit their families. Everyone had unanimously agreed to the pit stop to restock on essential supplies and place some of their less necessary items from the castle in storage with the coalition.

 

However, instead of helping the paladins move cargo on and off the lion ships, Pidge was sat on the ground, her back against her lion, and her laptop in front of her typing away furiously. Even through the glare of her glasses, Lance could still make out the look of determination in Pidge’s eyes as she hammered away at her keyboard.

 

“Before we evacuated, I transferred all of the security cam footage from the ship into Green’s data base,” she said, not once taking her eyes off her screen. Lance peered over her shoulder and saw four different video feeds going on at the same time, all of which were from the castle. “I’m checking to see if there was anything Lotor did while he was with us that we should have seen. I wanna know if he ever let his guard down and we simply overlooked it.”

 

The subject of Lotor was still a heavy one amongst the Paladins. The betrayal that came about after learning the truth from Romelle had hit the paladins very hard, especially Allura. Her feelings for Lotor were well known (and hated, in Lance’s case), and after learning that he had not only kept other alteans alive and hid that fact from her, but that he had been harvesting their quintessence and thus killing them in the process, it had left her feeling heartbroken and alone.

 

Zarkon had been at the top of Allura’s most-hated list for some time now, after all that he had done with driving their race to near extinction and destroying their home, but Lance was certain that Lotor had skyrocketed ahead of his father on that list. At least Zarkon let you know that he was the bad guy, there was never any doubt his intentions were pure evil, but Lotor had earned everyone’s trust and then used his position to trick Allura into enhancing the sincline ships for him, only to give him a weapon that nearly killed them all.

 

Everyone had been kicking themselves for trusting Lotor, but none more so than Allura. She had been up in Blue, caring for Shiro ever since they had landed. Coran and Romelle had taken it upon themselves to carry out the workload of loading and unloading Blue in her place, giving her space to clear her mind. Lance hated that, not only had she gotten out of doing all the heavy lifting, but she was also up with a man who very narrowly escaped death and had been unconscious since his rebirth. She was alone, hurt, sad, and it made him angry. He swore to himself he would never forgive Lotor for what he did to Allura.

 

“Oh wow…”

 

Lance’s train of thought was interrupted when he heard Pidge’s unexpected expression. He raised an eyebrow and tried to look at her screen. “Find something?” Pidge quickly slapped the laptop screen shut, hugging it against her breastplate.

 

“Nothing! Nothing at all! You don’t need to see it!”

 

Lance’s eyes narrowed at his friend. “Katie Holt, I swear to quiznak that I will wet-willy you right now if you don’t show me that footage,” he said, his voice much more serious than his threat.

 

Pidge’s eyes widened, fear creeping up her at an increasing rate. “Why? There’s nothing to see! Just boring stuff, Lotor walking down the hall, eating food goo, in the hanger…”

 

Lance stuck a finger in his mouth, and made a point of making a popping sound when he pulled it back out. The same stern look on his face glared at Pidge, and Lance wiggled his now damp finger closer to Pidge’s face. “Last chance!”

 

Pidge groaned. “Alright!” she screamed in defeat. Lance pulled his finger away, wiping it against the rest of his suit to get rid of the saliva that was on it, and let Pidge set up her laptop again. “Just keep in mind, I didn’t wanna show you this.” As she opened up her laptop, Lance took notice of the sullen expression she wore as she did so. He chose to ignore it for the time being, until he knew what had caused it.

 

Pidge set the laptop screen to display only one of the video feeds; she had enlarged it to take up the whole screen. The video was paused. It showed Lotor’s sincline ship in the hanger of the castle. It appeared to be the day that Lotor and Allura had entered the quintessence field, and they had just returned. Lotor was standing on one of the floating platforms, and Allura looked to be just getting out of the ship.

 

“Brace yourself…” were Pidge’s last words before she hit play.

 

_Lotor extended a hand to Allura. She took his hand, and used it as leverage to get out of the ship. The momentum of jumping from the ship and Lotor’s pull propelled Allura into Lotor’s arms. They paused for a moment, and then they looked at each other expectantly, soft, loving expressions took over their faces as the platform began to descend to the floor._

_Lotor spoke, not once looking away from Allura. “We accomplished something amazing today,” he said, a soothing tone dripping off his tongue. “And it would have never happened, had it not been for you.”_

_Allura looked up to him as she spoke, a smile slowly etching across her face. “It is a moment that I truly will never forget,” she said back._

Very quickly did Lance realize why Pidge didn’t want him to see this video. This had nothing to do with Lotor’s betrayal. No, that would be too easy. It was easier to accept the fact that Lotor had been stupid enough to plan to double-cross them while in their domain. But no, Lotor had to be a genius mastermind and plan it all out of sight.

 

It was much harder to watch Allura looking up to him lovingly, with that blissful and content look across her entire face. She looked happier than Lance had ever seen her. Time had apparently stood still for the two of them, allowing them to savor in the moment that brought them so much joy. She looked…

 

…in love…

 

Against his better judgement, he didn’t let Pidge pause the video. Against every fiber of his being, he watched as Lotor began to lean in, eyes closing as he neared Allura. Lance had to physically restrain himself from slapping the laptop shut again when Allura followed suit. And Lance fought back tears as he watched the two of them connect in what could only be described as one of the most magical of kisses he had ever witnessed.

 

Suddenly, Lance’s world went blank. He stopped seeing the rest of the video feed. He stopped hearing the loud thud of boxes being dropped and the grunts of those picking them up again. He couldn’t even register that Pidge had paused the video and was asking him if he was alright. He couldn’t feel the pain that came from clenching his teeth and fists so tightly that drawing blood was a threat. His emotions, however, were all over the place, and he couldn’t be bothered to pick one, so he let them race. One thought was crystal clear in his mind.

 

Lance had misjudged how big an impact that Lotor’s actions had left on Allura. Everyone had seen the crater that Lotor had left in her heart, but none of them realized the damage, the trauma, that had been done underneath.

 

“I gotta find Allura,” he spoke, his body moving on autopilot. As he stood up and looked, the whole world was still black and white, and the only thing he could see was his former lion. He couldn’t hear Pidge calling out to him, begging him not to do anything rash.

 

-~-~-~-

 

Allura watched over Shiro from the cockpit of her lion, as she had done so for the past few hours. Shiro was unconscious, healing from within the healing pod that had been brought from the castle. She ran a hand over the marvelous piece of machinery that was not only keeping her friend alive, but slowly healing all the damage that been done to him in his fight with Keith. Never more had she appreciated her people for building such technology.

 

She glanced at the remaining piece of Shiro’s galran arm, the small amount of steel-like material that was anchored to his skin. Allura though to herself what Shiro might be planning to do. Shiro couldn’t pilot a lion with one arm, much less fight galra. Perhaps Pidge and Coran could find an alternative to the galra tech, and build an altean version. Allura was sure that Romelle could be of use in that regard, having seen her culture before the war, and what advancements have been put in place since then.

 

Allura sighed to herself. She tried to keep her thoughts focused somewhere else; anywhere else, as long as it didn’t remind her of Lotor. This proved to be a difficult task, as the mention of anything galra reminded her of how they used to be, after the Naxzela incident. Lotor helped them to stop Haggar from completing her spell and turning Naxzela into a bomb, and otherwise prevented the destruction of everything that the Coalition had accomplished. He became their willing prisoner, providing them intel on many galra bases that had helped further the Coalition’s goals immensely.

 

Allura hated him at first, being the son of the man who killed her father and destroyed her entire civilization was enough of a grudge to carry, but the fact that Lotor’s actions caused harm to her friends and put them in compromising situations time and time again was adding insult to injury. She thought she would never trust him. She thought, despite her peaceful upbringing, they could pump him for as much information as he was worth, and dispose of him when he stopped talking. She wanted nothing to do with Lotor, and wished he would drop dead.

 

Ever so slowly, however, she began to trust Lotor. As he divulged plans to transform the empire into an era of peace, supplying the galra with quintessence and taking away their reason for fighting, as foolish a possibility it seemed at the time, it did tug at her heart strings just a bit. All she had ever wanted in life was intergalactic peace, and Lotor seemed to have some grand plan in order to achieve that goal.

 

As Lotor spoke of her father, and of the paladins of old, reminding her of the feats that they had accomplished together, Allura found herself listening more intently to his words. Her mission to end the war was always at the forefront of her mind, and when Lotor began speaking of an alliance between them that could end the war with the galra, she wanted to believe it was true. She wanted to believe that it was possible for Lotor to end a ten-thousand-year-old war and bring peace to the universe.

 

And when she watched Lotor run Zarkon through, watched him kill his own father and the man that had terrorized the universe for millennia, Allura thought that Lotor could do it. She truly believed that he could be the one to stop the galra from destroying or enslaving planets. She thought that he could give her what she’d always wanted.

 

And it was at that point that she realized she was developing feelings for Lotor.

 

Her feelings wavered, however, when not only Lotor, but (the person she thought was) Shiro as well, had gone against the team’s wishes and dropped Lotor off in the middle of the Kral Zera, thus putting himself and the black lion in jeopardy. Allura remembered how furious she was with both of them, forcing the four other paladins to race to their rescue.

 

It paid off in the end, though. Lotor proved himself to the galra commanders that he was right to lead them. His skills in combat were on par with Sendak, the right hand of Zarkon; that alone earned him several factions. What earned him more followers was his charismatic will, and invigorating and inspiring words that made him out to be the kind of leader his father could never be. She was still mad at him at the time, but watching him light the flames of the Kral Zera had given her feelings of pride, something she never thought she would feel for Lotor.

 

Lotor’s actions in finding Oriande surprised her, and his knowledge of Altean culture and history had Allura listening to every word. He had clearly spent decaphobes researching Altea and its people with a passion like no other. She never knew why he had this knowledge or how he acquired it, but the more Lotor spoke of Altea, the more he reminded her of home. He managed to bring back memories of Altea before the war, where it was beautiful and more technologically advanced than many other planets. She missed that unique blend, and Lotor’s knowledge brought back her love for her home world. It gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest, and that feeling intensified after visiting Oriande.

 

Lotor helped her to learn the secrets of her home that she had long since assumed were lost forever. He showed her a way to learn Altean alchemy, the same skills that her father used to build Voltron. He showed her that she could bring about a new era of peace and end the war Zarkon began. He made her feel important, special, and loved, and after finishing the last sincline ship and visiting the quintessence field, she knew that she loved him right back.

 

It wasn’t until she saw Romelle for the first time that she realized that every word, every compliment, every single thing that Lotor had done was nothing but one big lie. Learning about how he had kept her people captive on a remote planet, led them to believe he was some grand messiah who saved their race, and used it all as a cover to harvest Altean quintessence. He never cared about Altea or its race, he cared about quintessence. He cared about a power source that was so coveted that he would syphon it out of Alteans, his own species, and discard the remains.

 

Learning the truth had taken Allura’s heart, the one that had just been filled to the brim with love and admiration for Lotor and his work, and shattered against the floor. She was devastated, utterly humiliated to have fallen for someone who could be so cruel and still act the good guy. He lied right to her face, made her and all of her friends believe he was the man who would bring about a time of peace, and used that trust to get them to do his dirty work.

 

Allura had always thought Zarkon was the most horrible, vile creature to ever exist in the universe. She never knew that Lotor could knock him so far down to second place.

 

Allura wanted to cry. She wanted to scream, kick, punch, lash out at anything within her reach; she would even go so far as to drag Lotor out of the quintessence field just to kick his ass and send him back again. She wanted to do something that would make her feel less like she had spent the longest time being used and manipulated, make her feel less like she had fallen in love with someone whose only goal in life was to collect an energy source, no matter who they had to step on.

 

But she couldn’t. Allura couldn’t do any of that. She had to be strong for her friends. She had lost her people, her father, her home, and just recently the ship that had kept her and Coran safe for 10,000 years. Lotor and his actions had taken so much from her, but she refused to let him take away the faith and trust that the others had in her. Her resolve to reach Earth and rebuild he Castle of Lions was stronger than her hatred for Lotor. She would use that hatred to fuel her resolve, for as long as it took. The war was not over, certainly not with Sendak back in the picture, and the paladins would need everyone to step up and be brave, no matter how terrified she was at the thought of going back to the violence with a heart full of hatred.

 

The door behind her slide open. “Allura?” a voice called out. It sounded like Lance.

 

Allura quickly checked her cheeks for any stray tears that had fallen without her noticing, thanking the gods that they were dry. She turned her neck to see Lance walk across the cockpit and kneel down beside her. “Lance? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you unloading the lions?”

 

“I came to talk to you,” he replied, a serious undertone in his voice. There was a painful expression across his face, like he was dreading what he was about to say.

 

Allura’s eyebrow arched slightly. “Alright.”

 

Lance took a deep breath, mentally and physically preparing himself for what he was about to say. It wouldn’t be pleasant, it wouldn’t be enjoyable, but maybe it could help them to both find inner peace. That thought was the only thing that could compel him to speak.

 

“Allura, I wanna know… have you ever thought about me in a romantic way? Even if it was just for a moment?”

 

Ah. So that’s what this was about, Allura figured. She had known about Lance’s feelings for her for quite a while, and only when the mice told her what he had said did she realize that his feelings were more than just a passing crush. She wanted to talk to him about it, but between finishing the sincline ship and battling Lotor, she had not found a good time to sit down with him in private. Right now might be as good a time as any.

 

Allura shifted herself so that she could face her friend more comfortably. “Lance, before this goes any further… I know you have feelings for me. The mice told me what you said that day on the ship; how I’m the first person you’ve ever really liked and how I make you a better person, among other things.”

 

Lance’s tanned face quickly grew red, and he glanced off to the side with a glare. “Those little snitches!” he muttered angrily. “And after I used my best conditioner on them. I feel betrayed!”

Allura found herself chuckling at her friend’s antics, probably the first time since the chaos began that she had done that. Lance always did have that quality, to bring about a few laughs in a tense situation. “In any case, I don’t see you as anything more than a friend, Lance. A very good friend that I do hold dear, but a friend all the same. I apologize.”

 

Lance shook his head violently. “No, don’t apologize,” he said sternly. “To be completely honest, I didn’t think I had a shot with you anyway. I only thought of you as really pretty at first, and while that fact is still true to this day, I see you differently now. I see you as… fierce. Passionate. Smart. Driven. Strong. Able to take whatever comes your way and face it head-on.” A smile creeped up on Lance’s face, tugging each side of his mouth higher in admiration for the woman before him. That smile, along with the blue eyes just above it staring her down, was making Allura feel all kinds of guilty. Had she really never picked up on Lance’s admiration for her?

 

“I see you as someone who has survived countless struggles. You lost your home, your family, your friends, and the only familiar face left is Coran’s. Sure, you’ve got Romelle now, too, I guess, and the rest of the Alteans that she knows, but it’s not the same, you know?” Lance shook his head once more, sensing an awkwardness building between them. “The point is, I think you’re awesome, and though I can’t give you magical Altean superpowers or bring back your culture and whatnot, I do understand that Altean stuff is important to you. I’ll never hurt you like Lotor did…”

 

Allura was taken aback when she heard Lotor’s name said aloud; an audible gasp escaped her lips. Ever since the big fight with him, saying Lotor’s name had been essentially taboo around Allura. She wasn’t a fool; she knew her friends were trying to tip-toe around her when it came to him. She appreciated it, and in all honesty she expected it, especially from Lance. She didn’t expect him to bring up Lotor in a conversation that started with Lance’s feelings for her.

 

“I know you two kissed… Pidge found the video feed from that day,” Lance spoke again. Allura watched him turn away once more. “I don’t know much about what went down with you two, but if what I’ve seen on the feed was any indication, combined with the few moments you two have had since Oriande… Allura, did you love him? Like, were you truly in love with Lotor?”

 

Allure felt her blood run cold, and very quickly did she notice she wasn’t breathing properly. She didn’t want to admit it; it was painful enough knowing that she once liked Lotor, let alone loved him. He hurt her, he hurt her friends, he hurt Romelle and all of the other Alteans that he “rescued” from Zarkon. He was the man who nearly killed her and her entire team, nearly destroyed Voltron, nearly made the entire universe collapse in on itself, all for a power source that would likely have been abused by the race he was trying to make peaceful. She couldn’t love him. She hated him.

 

Even knowing all of this, the throbbing in her chest and the wave of guilt washing over her were indicators that Lance was right.

 

Allura nodded, beginning to feel a small lump in her throat growing bigger by the second. She looked down at her lap, unable to look her friend in the eye any longer, and saw tears pooling across the fabric of her armor suit. She hadn’t realized that she was crying. “All I have ever wanted… was to bring peace to the universe, and to carry on Altean traditions,” she spoke, her voice becoming hoarse with each word. “Lotor made me believe that he was someone who could do that. He made me think that this war could end. He fed me all these lies about creating an era of peace, but worst of all he made me think that I was capable of helping him. He gave me hope. He made me think I was worth something; that I was worthy enough to carry on the tradition of Altean Alchemy and preserve my people’s legacy. He… he made me feel important…”

 

The lump in Allura’s throat made it almost impossible to speak. She couldn’t stop her mouth, however, no matter how difficult it was to keep going. She wanted to stop. She wanted to feel the tears just dry up. She wanted the lump in her throat and the guilt swelling within her to vanish. But nothing would go down. Everything was pouring out and Allura couldn’t keep it in any longer.

 

“I… I loved him… and he used me!” her voice came out cracked, but still very loud. “He used me for the ship, for quintessence, for Voltron, for everything and I let him! I gave him everything, and he… he lied to me… I’m not fit to be an alchemist… or a paladin, or an altean-!”

 

Allura lifted her head when a pair of arms wrapped around her neck. She heard the clanging noise of Lance’s chest plate colliding with hers, and the wetness of his tears dripping from his face down her neck. He could hear Lance’s voice whispering in her ear with a strained voice. “The reason he used you… is because he knew you were stronger than him,” he said softly, clutching the back of Allura’s armor with everything he had. He wanted to hold her, embrace her, let her know someone was there for her. “Oriande chose you to carry its magic. Not Lotor. The White Lion gave its powers to you. You gave yourself to it, and it gave you the power that has saved our butts time and time again. The reason Lotor used you was because you are willing to give yourself to anyone you let in. He wanted to be someone that you let in, because it would further his goals. But Allura, your so much more than that…”

 

Allura was pulled away from the embrace, but she was quick to see that Lance looked even more devastated than she was. His eyes were growing redder by the second, and tears streamed down his face like a river. He was sniffling, and his teeth were clenched so tightly Allura was afraid they would break.

 

“You… You can’t sell yourself short because that bastard showed his true colors. I won’t let you. You have a giving nature, and you want to share that nature with everyone. Don’t feel like crap because one guy took too much. The universe is full of guys like him. Don’t let him take away from everything you’ve done! You saved the Arusions, the Taujeereans, the Balmerans, hell you revived an entire planet by yourself! You helped us take back an entire third of the empire that Zarkon ruled for 10,000 years! You saved Voltron from being stardust on Naxela!” Lance laid his head on Allura’s shoulder, a soft sob escaping his lips. His throat had gone dry from rambling, and his head was dizzy from the lack of oxygen. He knew he should stop, for the sake of his own health, but like hell he was going to. “I’ll never forgive Lotor for doing this to you, for making you think you’re anything other than spectacular… Let me carry your hate, Allura. Don’t let that guy keep you from being spectacular. Be spectacular!”

 

Allura was at a loss for words. She was beating herself up over trusting Lotor, hating herself for being so trusting and putting her friends in harm’s way, and here she had Lance screaming at her, telling her that she was being ridiculous for thinking that her ability to trust was anything other than a strength. And not her only strength, according to Lance.

 

To Allura, Lance was an enigma. He could be foolish. He was flirty. He ogled anything that looked even remotely female. But, he was also very loyal, very kind, and very observant. He had the words to say when no one else could say them, he saw things as clear as day that were cloudy to others. He wanted his friends to see their potential. He wanted everyone who was beautiful to see it for themselves.

 

Lance had matured so much since the first day they met, where he tried to romance her and she pinned him to the floor. He wasn’t this inexperienced goofball anymore. He was a leader, a strategist, and a true friend to the people Voltron protected. He was the glue that held Team Voltron together. He wasn’t the arm, he wasn’t the leg, he wasn’t even the head. Lance was the heart. Lance was the very center of Voltron, the core of the group of people that she held dearest to her. He was the embodiment of what it meant to be a paladin.

 

Even after everything that Lance had said to her, holding her on a pedestal and telling her she was everything she thought she wasn’t, she still couldn’t say that she returned his feelings. Lance was a magnificent person, and there was no person in the universe that he wouldn’t make happy, but he was still Lance. He was like her brother, her best friend, her soul mate that she could tell anything to, but not her partner, and right now that was what she needed from Lance. She felt guilty that she did not share his feelings, but she refused to be guilty about anything else anymore. She refused to make Lance more miserable than he was now. She owed it to him to get back on her feet, and remember that she was just as much a part of Voltron as anyone of them.

 

Tears spilled from her eyelids once more, but for the first time Allura knew that they were of joy and not sorrow. She felt revitalized, invigorated, but most of all, loved. The corners of her mouth tugged upwards in a smile as she returned Lance’s embrace by laying her hands across his back. She pulled him upward enough that his chin fell over her shoulder, and she could give him a proper hug.

 

“I will… and you do the same,” she said, “You surprise me, Lance, no one does it better. Don’t ever stop. Don’t let me forget what you taught me. Don’t stop being the friend I love so much. And don’t stop being spectacular either.”

 

Afterwards the two fell into a comfortable silence. The only thing that could break that silence was the sound of Lance’s sobs, echoing throughout Blue’s cockpit and likely the rest of the lion as well. She would let him cry as much as he needed to, and support him however she could.

Lance had done the impossible for her. He reminded her that she was not to blame for Lotor’s actions. Lotor hurt them all, her most of all, but Lance took all of that pain away, just from being himself. That was something of which she was sure she would never be able to repay, but she would spend the rest of her days trying.

 

“Be spectacular, Lance.”


End file.
